Burnt
by SkylarGreyBolio
Summary: English project? Easy! English project with Zuko Yami, the Mayor's son and the scariest person in town? Crap. ***RE-MAKE OF 'PLAY WITH FIRE AND YOU'LL GET BURNT!***


Living in a small town had its upsides. Living in a small town had its downsides. Living in a small town meant everyone knew everything about everyone. Secrets didn't stay secrets for more than an hour and your business was everyone's business. But if you never spoke your secrets aloud and you were careful to only mind your own business it was easy to fade in to the backdrop, to become one with the cornfields or the tacky blue wallpaper at The Jasmine Dragon.

From the moment Katara arrived in Omashu every move she made, every word she said was the subject of town gossip. Did they honestly think she couldn't hear their chatter?

She remembered the first time she had gotten an allowance from her grandmother. Katara walked a quarter mile to the drug store to exchange her coins for candy, it was _supposed_ to be the highpoint of the week. She left the drug store that day with a bag of salt water taffy and an earful of the most disturbing rumors.

They talked about the budding romance between Mr. Chong and Ms. Lily and about the Mayor, Mr. Yami and his family affairs, but mostly they talked about the town doctor and her flakey daughter.

"I hear she's shacking up with some Hollywood director wannabe and that's why she dumped her daughter with Dr. Kana." One woman had whispered to another.

"Well its right that she did." The friend answered. "Hollywood is no place for a little girl! I can guarantee Dr. Kana going to keep a tighter leash on this one; a bloodline can only support so many floozies."

"That dark hair though…she looks just like her Mama. For both of their sakes I hope she takes after her grandmother." Said a third woman and the other two gossipers nodded heartily in agreement.

I took Katara fifteen seconds to realize they were talking about her family.

She realized that the part of their little exchange that irked her most were the factual inaccuracies. First of all her mother's new boyfriend was a wannabe Hollywood _producer_ not director. From the moment little Katara gained the ability to walk and talk she became the responsible adult in the mother daughter duo. _Katara_ was the one that made sure bills were paid, the rent was in, and her mother was on time for her waitressing job. Katara was the one who made grocery lists, breakfast, lunch, dinner and hangover cures. She was used to taking care of herself and her mother, she wouldn't need Kana's 'leash' or anyone else's for that matter. Katara knew the rules in life, it was go hard or go home, survival of the fittest, and always remember that nice guys always finishes last. These were the essentials she used to arm herself against the hardships of city living. She sometimes wondered if the only reason her mother hadn't aborted her when she had the chance was because she knew she would be giving birth to the one person on earth whose life depending on taking care of her.

She was glad when her mother left her only daughter and a scuffed up suitcase on the doorstep of her grandmother's house in the itty-bitty town of Omashu. She was glad she would never have to see her mother's stupid face again. Those ladies were wrong again. Katara didn't look a stitch like her mother. Katara's mother had been blessed with the features and physique of an angel, a Victoria's Secret angel to be exact. The young girl knew that even after she hit puberty there was no hope of her ever looking like that. She was just plain faced and scrawny, she didn't inherit an exotic face or voluptuous curves. She was just a snot nosed brat and she _knew_ it.

How could those town ladies talk so fervently about unconfirmed facts and stories? Things they didn't _know_ were true?

Katara liked _knowing_ things. When she lived in the little one bedroom apartment in the city she used to take out books from the library in a big Cabbage Corp. sack she had found under the rusty kitchen sink.

In Kana's beautiful old farmhouse/practice there was a room _inside_ of the house filled with books, atlases, and journals. Katara could actually take her time reading the books without having to worry about due dates and late fees. It was like her mother had dropped her off on god's doorstep. She had all the books she could ever dream of reading.

It seemed that GranGran also liked _knowing_ things. If Katara couldn't find it in a book, GranGran would always be the place she could go for the answer. It wasn't like Katara's mother who only knew about makeup and seducing married men, GranGran knew about animals, the law, and the language. Katara wondered how such a brilliant woman could give birth to such dumb one.

Adjusting to living with someone who actually had a neuron or two firing upstairs proved to be somewhat of a challenge. Katara wasn't used to not being the boss, to not having the final say, to giving up her independence. She didn't know how to let another person care for her; she didn't know how an eight year old was supposed to act. It didn't take her long to figure out she didn't _like_ being treated like an eight year old, not after she had spent her entire cognitive life being treated as a thirty eight year old.

She fought with her new guardian, she never listened to her new schoolteachers, and initially she had trouble connecting with her new classmates.

All of the sudden there was something called "bed time" and there were these arbitrary lines and rules to obey. It was _polite_ to engage her fellow town's people in conversations and greet everyone she met with a hearty "Hello! Mr. Gyatso!" or "Good Morning! Ms. Yangchen." Stores were closed after six on weekdays and failed to open at all on Sundays. Small children like herself weren't allowed to roam the streets after dark.

Her teachers treated her like a baby and always planned the most infantile lessons, tasks so simple monkeys could complete them blindfolded. What self respecting third grader couldn't write in cursive or needed help remembering their times tables?

One of her classmates, Teo, couldn't even manage to stay awake for lessons. Other boys like Aang and Haru spent the entire day munching on snacks and making burp and fart jokes. One boy even smuggled animals into the class, that sad part was even the animals made better students than these clods. Katara loathed her new classmates and tried every morning to get out of going to school.

Things got better when she was befriended by Suki. Suki was glamorous like Katara mother and she knew all about being a girly girl _like Katara's mother_, but unlike Katara's mother, Suki had a personality. She was confident, outgoing, and adventurous, everything Katara wanted to be. _Everyone_ wanted to be Suki's friend.

Being from the city gave Katara a much needed status boost, it also didn't hurt that Suki and Katara actually got along fairly well too, it wasn't long before the two girls became inseparable.

After that, things got good for Katara. The town ladies found a new topic of interest, school became a whole hell lot more bearable, and she learned how to live compatibly with her grandmother. It seemed Katara had adjusted quite well.

Or maybe she had adjusted too well. Those who knew her before moving to Omashu might even suggest the dark haired girl had gotten complacent in her new environment.

If there were a Miss Teen Omashu, Katara would be it. By her junior year of high school she was the steady girlfriend of the Pro-Bending captain and heartthrob Jet O-Ling, was consecutively elected homecoming queen since she entered her freshman year, she had the highest GPA in the history of the school and to top it all off she was vice president of her SGA.

She had everything; she was a high school junior who had everything the girls of Omashu went to bed wishing for. She always had the right clothes, the right shoes, the right accessories. She listened to the right music, liked all the right movies and read all the right books. Everyone knew the town sweet heart riding around town in little red convertible she received for her sixteenth birthday. She was the envy of her classmates and an example for the lowerclassmen. And yet…

She was bored, completely and utterly bored out of her mind. Any other girl would sit back and bask in her own success and greatness, but not Katara. She hated herself no—she loathed herself. Deep down, she knew she was a coward.

Perfect little Katara, terrified of breaking rules, obsessed with her appearance, her schoolwork, due dates, deadlines, time limits, customs, traditions; if there was a right way to do something Katara obsessed over it.

Every morning she got up at dawn in order to have enough time to shower, blow dry her hair, and apply makeup. When the process was over and done with she would stare at her reflection in the mirror and not once did she ever like the girl who she saw. It made her want to smash her fists straight through the glass and force herself to swallow the shards.

She knew now why her mother had been so eager to leave this place. It wasn't that the air was unclean or that the sunrises and sunsets were not beautiful, the people, while they were nosy and judgmental, they were still good and honest people and overall Omashu was a nice place to live. But it wasn't life, it wasn't alive, there was no heart beating and lung breathing, there was no pulse. Nothing ever changed except maybe for the weather, and boy did they _love_ talking about the weather!

Life in the city with her mother, though it was difficult and sometimes a little miserable, it was still fast paced and unpredictable. Katara knew that if she tried hard enough she would be able to thrive and master it, but it would be a challenge. Challenges were something she only dreamed about, disaster was something she wished for, and stagnancy was all she got. She needed something, _anything_ to keep her from turning into a zombie.

But she was a coward, and her boredom would become her secret.

Omashu Senior High School was the smallest high school in the county. Students took seven classes total. The four mandatory classes for juniors were English, Trigonometry, Physics, and World History. These mandatory classes were broken up into two sections, a high level and a low level. Katara took all high level classes and while she did well in all of them, she particularly excelled in Math and Science. History was too easy and didn't interest her very much and she found English to be often times very problematic. Research papers and constructed essays were simple enough, but plays, prose and poetry…That was a whole other story. Electives made up for the three extra class periods and were generally a conglomeration of all four grades. Students were permitted to take other academic electives or arts, sports or technology classes. Her junior year Katara was taking Home Economics, Molecular Biology, and Environmental Science as her electives.

Having a schedule so jam packed full of academic courses meant that much of Katara's days were spent completing school assignments and studying for exams. When she wasn't hitting the books she spent the weekdays working in Kana's office or hanging out with Suki. Fridays were game days. As the designated girlfriend of Jet she was obligated to be at every game to cheer on her man. She wasn't a cheerleader or on the pep squad or anything like that, that was mostly a freshman's thing, but if Katara wasn't at every match standing in the very front row screaming in support of her man, Jet would throw a hissy fit.

To tell you the truth he wasn't even that skilled of a pro-bender. He was good, but he wasn't great. What really brought him fame was his handsome face and sizable trust fund. Jet was easily the hottest _and_ wealthiest boy in Omashu, not counting the Mayor's family. He was the very definition of tall dark and handsome and his parents owned over three fourths of the farmland in the county. The O-ling's were the Hilton or Trump family of Omashu. Being Jet's girl was both an honor and a highly coveted position. Katara was kind of getting sick of it. 'Kind of' being the understatement of the century.

From afar Jet seemed gentlemanly and debonair, but it was all an act. Those who had the pleasure of knowing him knew that he was really actually a selfish, arrogant son of a bitch. The boy really did believe the earth revolved around him and he made sure to let you know it. Omashu Pro-bending might as well have been called _The Jet Show_ because they never tried a play where he wasn't the hero or that didn't allow him to score the game-winning point. He was also probably the one person Katara knew who spent more time in front of the mirror in the morning (and between classes).

If Katara hoped to keep his affection she had to obey his every whim no matter how small or trivial. She let Jet tell her who to talk to, where to sit, what parties and events to go to. It was slowly getting to the point where he dictated what clothes she could wear and what food she could eat. If he had his way he would control every aspect of her life.

Jet never failed to remind her just how easily she could be dumped for someone more submissive or someone with a prettier face or better body. He accepted gifts from female admirers and openly flirted with other girls, sometimes right in front of her face. He made up lies and stories about vulgar sexual acts he had gotten Katara to perform with him in dangerous places. Katara often found herself doing his homework or projects for him whenever he doubted her brilliance.

And she wasn't stupid after all. In fact, she could see clearly exactly how easily he was manipulating her. It was obvious even to her that every word that came out of his mouth, every time he touched her or even looked at her was just another way he planned on controlling her just another way he kept her beneath him. Katara could see his malevolence burning bright as daylight and she did nothing to avoid or escape it. She loved how difficult it was to gain approval from her boyfriend because it made it all the sweeter when she got it. This too was something she hated about herself.

English, in addition to being her least favorite subject, was the only class she had with Jet, which made it extra stressful. Mr. Pakku lived for English. The man absolutely _loved_ the subject. He often began class periods with the dramatic rendition of a monologue from his favorite Shakespeare play or he acted the part of a famous literary character and the students had to guess what novel he was referencing.

"Could this teacher get any gayer?" Jet remarked snidely not even bothering to keep his voice down. He was reading the latest issue of Sports Illustrated Magazine while Katara took notes for the two of them from Pakku's lecture.

Katara pretended not to have heard him and continued focusing on the lesson. It bothered her when Jet used the word 'gay' as an insult. It didn't matter whether their teacher liked men, women, or both; his sexual preference was none of their business. Besides, Katara kind of admired Pakku, he really was passionate about his work and passion was something her own life lacked.

Sex with Jet could only be described as tedious and unpleasant. It was another of Katara's job as the designated girlfriend to attend social gathering with Jet, social gatherings being the drinking parties in Haru Hami's basement after Pro-Bending games (win or lose). At these parties Katara usually sat beside Jet while he reveled in his fame and glory. Next they would engage in some public display of affection in the form of Jet sticking his tongue in her mouth and the night always ended with her letting him spend a couple minutes on top of her in the guest bedroom. She figured as long as he used a condom it was better than having to deal with his whining or having to watch the pathetic attempts of freshman girls to steal him from her. God if only they knew how awful he was in bed.

None of the characters in the books or plays they read about in English class were so pitiful. None of the scientists, mathematicians or world leaders she learned about in any of her other classes made her want to cry out in exasperation. What exactly was keeping her from breaking up with Jet?

"Katara! Katara!" he hissed poking her with his pen.

"Mm?" she answered actually making an effort to keep her voice down. Pakku didn't deserve to have his lessoned disturbed because Jet was a fucktard who couldn't even wipe his ass without a consultation first.

"Pay attention." He ordered with a gesture toward the teacher. There was ten minutes left in the class period and Pakku had cut his lecture short in order to explain a project he was assigning.

"I've decided to allow you the freedom to choose whatever great literary work you so desire to complete this project." Pakku explained in a booming voice.

"Does that mean _gossip girl_ books count?" asked Suki.

"The_ gossip girl_ series is an excellent celebration of the springtime of youth, but no you may not do your project on any book, play, poem, or speech that has been adapted into a movie or TV show." The teacher answered. "Any other questions before I explain the specifics of the project? No? Excellent! Let me hand out some rubrics."

Pakku went behind his desk and pulled out a stack of papers. He then handed the stack to Lee his favorite student and asked him to distribute them to the rest of the class. When Katara finally got her hands on that rubric she fought to hide her grimace. This was a _partner project_, which meant that she would be Jet's partner and end up shouldering the entire weight of the project by herself.

"Now the project is really very simple, whatever work you and your partner agrees on, I want you to complete it." Pakku said.

Complete it? What on earth did he mean by that? If something was published doesn't that make it complete by default? Who were they to say it wasn't compete already?

Pakku chuckled, "I see my precious students are a bit confused. What I want is for you two write a sequel…you know a follow up or an update. Tell me what happened to the characters or the speaker, where did they go when the curtains closed or the story ended."

So this was some sort of creative writing assignment. Creative writing wasn't really one of Katara's strengths, but she knew she could come up with something that appealed to Pakku's sense of pathos. Pakku was pretty transparent when it came to his likes and dislikes and he was a sucker for a good inspirational saga.

"Excuse me sir," Katara said politely raising her hand, "You didn't include a due date on the rubric. When were you expecting us to turn these papers in by?"

"Well this is more than just a paper. I want you to put a lot of time and effort into this project. I'm not talking about a five-page essay; I want manuscripts from you all. You will be free to hand in your work at any time during the year but I want to have it before final exams in the spring. This is a yearlong project and I'm expecting great things," He said with barely contained enthusiasm.

"Ah, I see." Katara said with a smile. "It is also in the spirit of youth to allow us to choose our own partners, wouldn't you agree, Sir?" she asked. Having Jet as a partner really wasn't the worst thing in the world; at least he would let her do it her way.

"I would indeed agree! I'm glad you're thinking of ways to embrace your youth Ms. June." Pakku said.

Katara caught herself smiling genuinely. She loved it when teachers complimented her and she loved it when things when her way. She would partner up with Jet and get this project over and done with as soon as possible. At least that was the plan before Pakku completed his thought.

"But in the interest in making sure you all get the most out of your education I've decided to assign partners this time." He took a wad of folded up paper out of the pocket of his shirt. "You see I've already made a list."

Her face fell. Shit! She was going to get paired up with Lee; she _knew_ she was going to get paired up with Lee! Lee had been very obvious and very forthcoming about his 'love' for Katara. He had asked her out on multiple occasions and she _always_ rejected him. To be fair Lee was a really nice boy who would probably make a _much_ better boyfriend than Jet, but god…those eyebrows, that hair and those clothes! He was like something out of a circus! But he was also the teacher's pet, so chances were Pakku would try and do his favorite student a favor by pairing him with the girl he was crushing on.

"I better not get paired with Lau…" Jet grumbled under his breath. Katara found herself wishing that he _would_ get paired with Aang Lau, the boy with the _lowest_ GPA in the junior class. It was a complete mystery how he managed to land himself in the high level English class. Aang was on the Pro-bending team with Jet. All in all he was a fantastic air bender. State Colleges had sent scouts out to watch him play games. It was unfortunate that the boy was about as dumb as a box of rocks. His family was good friends with hers to the extent to which GranGran treated him as an honorary grandchild. Despite this Katara did her best not to associate with the likes of him. She had a feeling he was the kind of boy her mother might have hung around. And look at how far that got her.

"I'll read off the groups now." The teacher announced to the class waiting in silent anticipation. "Meng you're with Teo."

Katara blinked. They would certainly make an interesting couple. Meng Shi was the shy daughter of a big oil family who Katara had heard her speak _maybe_ four words in her entire life. Teo was a very lucid drunk. GranGran had once remarked that Teo acted as if wolves had raised him. Daddy Shi would love to have that one over for dinner.

"Next we have, Suki and Aang, Sokka and Ty Lee, Long and Mai." Pakku paused to turn over the scrap of paper. "Katara…Lets see Katara you're with…"

_Not Lee! _She prayed. _Not Lee! Please anyone but Lee!_

"Katara and Zuko," She heard the teacher say. Katara almost fell out of her chair. _Zuko!? Zuko?!_ She changed her mind. She would take Lee over Zuko any day of the week. Why did the universe hate her so much? Why on earth had she been paired with Zuko? That boy was a freak!

She had actually forgotten he was even in her class. He always sat in the very back of the room and never participated in discussions. The only time anyone ever noticed his presence was when he or she could feel a deadly aura emanating from next to the radiator. No one really knew what it was that pissed him off so much, but when Zuko was in a bad mood you could sense it in the air. It was common knowledge that he was the student most likely to try blowing up the school or murdering a classmate.

He had been suspended numerous times throughout his school career. He had almost gotten expelled from middle school for punching a teacher. The only thing that kept him from getting kicked out was the fact that his father was the Mayor. Zuko was the youngest of the three Yami children.

The older two, Azula and Ikem, were totally normal and generally well liked by people in town. Zuko was the Yami family's bad apple. Aside from his long history of violence and disrespecting authority, Zuko never put any effort into his school work. He had no friends, not a single one. Katara had never seen anyone willing engage in conversation with the boy. And for good reason too.

Zuko only wore black. Every piece of clothing she had ever seen him wear was black, worn and baggy. There was a rumor that said the day Zuko wore any color other than black to school, was the day he would bring a gun to class and murder them all. Katara shivered just thinking about it.

And if wearing black and knocking out teachers didn't make him enough of a deviant, Zuko was a known drug user and perhaps even a drug dealer. Teo claimed to have witnessed him snorting powder and crushed pills on several separate occasions. Another boy from the Pro-Bending team, Mako, told the principle he saw Zuko outside behind the boys locker rooms smoking marijuana. Since no one ever talked to him, no one knew just how serious his drug problem was.

Katara turned in her chair to see if Zuko reacted at all to having his name called, or if he made any sign of having listened to the project outline. It didn't even seem like he was on the same planet as the rest of them.

For once he didn't seem to be angry. He still looked pretty frightening though, black eyeliner around eyes that cold and aloof did not give Katara a happy feeling inside. He just sat there scribbling (or doodling she couldn't really tell) in his composition book never once looking up to meet Katara's gaze. Everyone wondered about what kind of twisted things they might find in one of Zuko's notebooks. Suki claimed to have gotten a peek at a few of the pages and said she saw creepy skeleton drawling and portraits of town buildings and residents on fire. Again not something that really inspired faith in his overall mental health.

He just looked like he had been born a weirdo. Everyone in Omashu sported a healthy tan (save a few others who applied sunscreen religiously because taking one step outside during the summer meant burning themselves to a crisp, but even they had some color to them) but Zuko was as pale as a ghost. His white skin looked even eerier next to his burnt colored mop of unruly black hair. Even if he weren't dressed like the grim reaper, these attributes alone would have been enough to make him stand out in a crowd.

Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. She was planning on doing the entire thing herself anyway. It would be easiest just to tell Zuko that the entire thing was being taken care of and to just go on writing his _Death Note_.

"Lee and Duke, and last but not least Jet and Jin." Katara heard Pakku say finishing off the list.

Jet was with the new girl Jin. Katara thought Jin was fairly attractive, intelligent, and nice enough too. However she was also sure Jin had a major thing for her boyfriend. She had to wonder whether Jin would be ballsy enough to try to steal Jet out from under her. Katara almost cared. _Almost_.

The class was alive with chattering between both satisfied and disgruntled partners. Pakku waved his hands over his head trying to get the class settled down and grab their attention.

"Class…Class!" he called and waited for the noise to die down. When the class was finally still again he continued his instruction.

"I'm going to post a calendar outside the classroom door for each month. I expect each group to sign up once a month to meet with me and update me on your progress. I specifically made your pairs based on your own writing styles. A seasoned teacher such as me will notice if only one of the writing styles is represented. All of my students are brilliant so I will not hear any excuses as to why you can't work together." Pakku said seriously.

Oh was that a fact? Did he not notice the creeper brooding in the back of the class? How on earth was she supposed to collaborate with that boy? Katara started to feel overwhelmed with dread. There was no way she could deal with someone like him. She looked over at her boyfriend to see if she could expect any support from him at all. He was busy cleaning the dirt out from under his fingernails.

"Jet?" She whispered.

"What do you know about this Jin chick? She's new right?" Jet answered absently.

"Yeah, she's from Ba Sing Se, but her parents moved her here for the rest of high school. I don't think she was thrilled with their decision, I can empathize with her," said Katara.

Jet narrowed his eyes at her but didn't answer.

"What am I supposed to do with _Zuko_ as my partner?" Katara asked.

Her boyfriend shrugged his shoulders. "That's your problem isn't it?"

Katara found it hard to concentrate as Pakku continued ranting about how wonderful the project was going to be for them all and suggesting titles for their usage. This was going to be a disaster. She was going to have to step up her doting girlfriend act in order to keep her claim on Jet. As crappy of a boyfriend as he was, she had invested a lot in him and part of her really did care about him. And if that wasn't bad enough she was going to have to work with Zuko the anti social wack job unless she wanted to fail English class. No decent college was going to accept the girl who failed English junior year.

There was no escape. Katara was just going to have to deal with her problems head on like she would anything else. When the bell rang signaling the end of the class period she decided she was just going to have to jump right into it.

She shoved her books into her book bag and jumped out of her chair. She knew she needed to catch Zuko before he left the classroom and she lost sight of him.

"Zuko!" Katara called after him. "Zuko, wait up we have to talk about our project!" She caught up to him as he was walking out of the class. He didn't even carry a bag or schoolbooks, just that wretched notebook.

Suddenly they were face to face. Zuko was taller than she was and she could tell underneath his baggy clothes he was frightfully thin. He shouldn't have been physically intimidating but he was. For some reason she had no words, her throat was so dry it wasn't working. He stared at her with his icy hazel eyes waiting for her to state her business. Finally as he was about to turn away she started to speak.

"Our project." She said apprehensively readjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. Zuko's gaze was penetrating and unwavering it gave her the chills.

"Uh…when do you want to get together to work on it? I know we've got a while to get it done, but school is really important to me and I've got a very busy schedule."

"Busy schedule…" Zuko repeated impelling Katara to blush.

"Yeah…" She said giving a nervous laugh. "Really busy…So are you free on Thursday. I've got time after school."

"No." he answered.

Katara stifled her annoyance. All of the sudden he had gone from scary to irritating in two seconds flat. Why the hell wouldn't he be free on Thursday? He didn't have a job or extracurricular. Was there some big drug deal or a creepers convention going on?

"Ok." She said patiently. "What day is good for you?"

"I might have an opening next spring," said the teen not bothering to mask his sarcasm.

"Right…next spring." Katara said with a nod imitating the way he imitated her. "Look I'm not going away. This class, well all my classes actually, are really important to me. So you can either cooperate with me-"

"Or what?" he asked cutting her off. While they were talking the classroom had emptied. Jet had chosen not to wait for Katara (which didn't surprise her in the slightest) and she was becoming increasingly aware that if she didn't finish up this exchange soon, she would be late for her next class.

"I'm asking you nicely. Like I said before this is really important." She said. He had to understand. Everyone knew what kind of an overachiever and perfectionist she was. The two stood in the doorway as the people hallways started to clear out. She knew he was stalling on purpose. She knew _he_ knew she hated being late.

"Zukoooooo," she pleaded.

The boy standing opposite her crossed his arms and scowled. "Then do it yourself."

"You heard what the teacher said!"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." He answered. Katara knew he was dismissing her.

"But Zuko!" she tried. And failed, it was too late the boy had already turned his back on her and was shuffling down the empty hallway. All she could do was watch his retreating form.

There was no point in following him. Not now at least. It was clear he was in no mood to make plans to work with her. She was going to have to try again later and she was going to have to get creative.

Now it wasn't just about her not being able to complete the project by herself, it was about his overall reluctance to do the right thing and just suck it up. Katara was going to make it her personal mission to see to it that he contribute properly or else.

Who did he think he was anyway? Yes, life in Omashu could really weigh down on a person but that didn't make anyone else all dark and twisted _or_ rude. God stupid teenage angst; she wondered if he knew how lame he really was.

Boys in general were proving to be lame and a waste of time. Stupid Zuko, stupid Jet! If she didn't care so much about her reputation she would dump Jet and hit Zuko over the head with her copy of _War and Peace_.

But her reputation was about all she had and if Jet wasn't her boyfriend who would be, Lee? She didn't think so.

That meant she was going to have to stay even later after school to decorate the boy's locker room for the game on Friday. Maybe this way he would forget about convincing her to get his jersey number tattooed to her body. At least that would give her time to plan out a strategy against Zuko.

Katara was not about to go down without a fight.


End file.
